I’m guessing you’re expecting a wonderful post about some miracle, natural home remedy acne solution that I’ve found and has cleared up my acne in no time flat. But that’s not the case. Well, I guess that depends how you see it. About 6 months ago, I made the decision to go on Accutane. I actually talked about it in a post once to get second opinions from people. Most of the opinions were negative but I also saw many positive ones. So once I started taking accutane, I decided to keep that info out of my blog so I wouldn’t have other people’s opinions changing my own.
So let’s go back to the beginning. I’ve always had a little bit of acne. Nothing to get super upset about, but enough that I saw a dermatologist when I was in high school, when I was in college, and after college. But it wasn’t until I started CrossFit and was competing, that my acne got out of control. And when I say out of control, I mean it was incredibly painful to the touch. I had bad cystic acne that hurt when I was just putting on make up. But since the acne was so bad, putting on make up was my only choice. I’m not sure if it was CrossFit that changed my complexion, but I’m almost certain it had to do with it because of the changes in estrogen and other hormones.
Anyways, after trying many different home remedies such as oil pulling and oil cleansing, changes to my eating habits, removing fish oil from my diet, consuming cod liver oil, and different essential oils, I decided to try some prescription strength drugs. After trying spironolactone and other prescription drugs as well as topical medication, I was finally at a loss. It had been almost 3 years of fighting this cystic acne that was going to lead to much worse scarring if I didn’t do something about it. So I decided to try Accutane out and my dermatologist immediately agreed.
Accutane is a high dose of vitamin A, that you take on a daily basis. Most treatments, like mine, are around 6 months. Some people have to do multiple sessions, but not everyone. Accutane is taken very seriously by not only the doctor, but also the state. It is a state regulation that you must be on birth control while taking Accutane because the birth defects are so awful. There are also other side effects such as depression, muscle and joint pain, extremely dry skin and eyes, and a whole hell of a lot of other things, but those are the things I experienced. The process is quite tedious. Here’s the process you go through every month: get your birth control (remember, no babies), get your blood drawn so they can check that your liver is just fine, then go to the doctor a couple days later where you have to do a urine test to make sure you’re not pregnant, then you get your prescription, then you have to take a test online all about practicing safe sex, once you pass that test, you can then drop off your prescription to finally get your month supply. Then do this many more times until you are off the medication. Annoying, but so worth it in my opinion.
You may be asking why the hell I’m even writing about this on a paleo recipe blog. Which is understandable. But I want to share my experience with people who are trying so hard to change their diet to fix their body issues, and those things are just not working. The more I’ve eaten paleo, the more I’ve found out how many things can be cured through diet alone. I rarely get sick, I sleep better, I have more energy, my depression went away. So many things can change through diet, but my acne did not seem to be one of them. And if it was, it would have taken me YEARS and many scars to find out those reasons. I’m sharing all this information with you in hopes that if you are ever thinking about taking this prescription drug, you have another opinion. A positive one.
I had a truly positive experience with the drug. Not to say that I didn’t have some ups and downs, but most of my 6 month experience was a good one. Here were some of my symptoms:
- The worst symptom by far has been dry lips. You know when you get a sunburn and it peels? Well imagine that happening every single hour, of every single day, for 6 months. It was miserable. By far the worst thing. Not having chapstick on hand truly felt like a meth addict not having his drug. Terrible description, but that’s seriously how it felt. I rarely stop biting or picking at my lips. I have a new habit I need to break.
- Dry skin and red skin. Mostly my face was the only thing that got dry, but it was also my ears, my nose and my hair. So I exfoliated my face daily with one of those soft bristle face rotating brushes. A cheap one. And moisturized a lot. I didn’t stop wearing make up until my skin settled down after the second month, I was too embarrassed.
- Dry, breaking hair. My hair thinned out and my hair stylist said it seemed to be breaking easily. After 4 months, that passed and my hair got a lot better. Wish it would have affected my leg hair, that would have been cool.
- My joints and muscles hurt A LOT about 3-5 months in. Workouts were much more uncomfortable to the point that it hurt to walk. That passed after 5 months.
- Moody and depressed. I got REALLY depressed about 4 months or so into the accutane. I mean, depressed to the point that I couldn’t get off the couch. I couldn’t figure out why I was sad or what was wrong, but I was so unhappy. I fought some depression when I was growing up, so I was more likely to have some while on the drug. It went away with time.
- Super red face. I’m pale when I stay away from the sun, so my neck and my face were completely opposite colors. Weird looking.
So I’m going to share some pictures with you. Disclaimer: these pictures may be frightening. And I’m sure some mean people out there will leave mean comments that will bum me out, but I want to share with you what a huge difference the medication made. I no longer have any acne, only red scars remain, which should go away over time. If they don’t all go away, I plan on doing some chemical peels and/or laser treatment to get rid of the scars.
In the end, I am incredibly happy with the results of accutane and extremely happy that I went on the prescription. I’m not sure what will happen in the future and if I will have to get back on it, but I know that my acne will never be as bad or as painful as it was in the past. This prescription has done wonders for me and if anyone ever asked me, I would recommend it to them. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! But remember, this prescription affects everyone differently. Just because I had a good experience doesn’t mean someone else will. Thanks for listening. You’re my favorite. Please feel free to share your experiences, but do not hate on me for sharing my own experience with it. Kthanksbye.
While I understand why people use products like Accutane, I would like to share my experience for anyone who may be looking for information before going down the road of using medications.
I have had acne since I was a teenager. I had temporary episodes of “decent” skin in my early 20s but by my mid-20s I was having pretty consistent cystic acne. There were always lots of painful bumps on my chin and jawline. Occasionally they were on the side of my nose and forehead. As soon as one went away, another one would take it’s place in a slightly different spot. They never came to a head and even after they “went away” there was still some hard lumpiness under the skin for a long time.
Around the time I was 30 years old, I started cleaning up my diet for unrelated reasons. It was actually in response to taking a community-based education course called “Living Smart” which helps people make more environmentally friendly decisions and actions in their everyday lives. In addition to focusing on things like renewable energy, alternative transportation, etc, it also covered how one could minimize throw-away packaging, chemical products, and other pollutants.
Anyway, I started cutting out processed food products to avoid the packaging waste. I bought produce from local organic shops, grass-fed meat from our local butcher, and bulk nuts, dried fruits, beans, grains, etc from a local whole food store. In avoiding packaging waste, I was eating almost no dairy, soy, crackers, bread, snack foods, candies, etc. I also quit using perfumes, lotions, fabric softeners, and heavily fragranced products and switched to bathing with liquid castile soap and using homemade coconut oil deodorant. This dramatically cut down the toxic load my body used to be under on a daily basis.
One segment of the Living Smart course that was less focused on the environment and more focused on creating a “healthy you,” introduced me to Green Smoothies. This intrigued me and I started reading glowing testimonials online from people who had cured lots of health problems with green drinks. I decided to experiment and I drank a green smoothie every morning (leafy greens, green herbs, chia seeds, fruit, water, avocado, and ginger) and a fresh fruit/veggie juice every evening (any or all of carrot, beetroot, celery, silver beet, cucumber, fennel, lemon, apple, ginger). To further my experiment with a “nutrient dense” diet, I ate a big leafy green salad with my dinner every night, cut out coffee and tea, and cut out added sugars (including honey and molasses). I also started trying to be in bed by 11 p.m. each night for a good night’s sleep. I continued my workouts as normal. Instead of feeling deprived, I actually started experiencing fewer cravings and my moods evened out. This kept me interested in continuing, irregardless of what was happening to my skin.
While I was still battling acne, I noticed that my skin was having a healthier glow, which was nice. Over time, I started noticing that the pimples I was getting were smaller and not quite as painful. When one went away, another one wouldn’t immediately crop up in the same place. In a sense they were becoming more spread out. I started resisting the urge to pick at them. I quit using acne products. They became more “normal,” more like pimples with a whitehead instead of cysts. Lots of these could be dislodged with a very gentle squeeze after a shower. The lumpiness under my skin started going away. Then one day I realised that I hadn’t had a cyst in quite some time and even the small bumps were becoming fewer and far between.
For the first time in my life (since childhood) my skin was smooth and clear. I don’t even have the proverbial “one or two around the time of my period.”
This wasn’t a quick fix. It took at least six months of this consistent (and I emphasize “consistent”) diet and lifestyle to see the changes in my skin. I wasn’t just removing offending foods, I was also actively adding all the “good” stuff to my diet as well (lots and lots of greens and colourful veggies). And, eventually, when my skin had calmed down, I did start eating small amounts of blackstrap molasses, dark chocolate, and dried fruit. I just tried my best to keep away from processed foods and personal care products.
After about 9 months of this lifestyle, I fell pregnant with my son and proceeded to have an acne-free pregnancy. Once he was born, I thought for sure that the acne would come back with the sleep deprivation and having less time to prepare my smoothies and juice. To my surprise, my skin stayed looking pretty decent (if you don’t count the dark under-eye circles). 😉
However, to deal with the sleep deprivation, I eventually started drinking a coffee with coconut cream and sugar every morning. And then one day, when he as about 6 months old, I noticed I was waking up with painful bumps on my chin here and there. So I cut out the coffee again and tried to get in at least a few smoothies and juices in a week. The bumps stopped.
All this to say, I believe most people can probably fix their skin problems naturally. I don’t think it’s easy or straightforward and I know it’s not quick. But, I wanted to put my story out there for anyone who finds it helpful and wants to explore nutrition/hormone/allergy issues for him or herself.
Hi!
I too have taken acutane for my acne but my skin was only clear for about 6 months after I stopped the treatment and I ended up having to go back on the pill. I went off the pill last year and have been trying to fight it naturally and am failing pretty miserably.
Just a heads up that acutane does not work forever for a lot of people. I am now working on sorting out my underlying hormonal problem that I know is the root cause. Also acutane ruined my digestive system, which may have been a blessing in disguise because its one of the reasons I found paleo in the first place and started improving my eating habits and lifestyle. I used to be able to eat whatever I wanted and feel ok afterwards and now even some healthy foods make be bloat, have horrible gas, and feel very ill.
I believe one day I will nail down which foods specifically are triggering my skin, I don’t care how long it takes, I refuse to go back to drugs. I would never recommend anyone to take acutane from my experiences. Just my opinion of course, I really do hope it stays clear for you, it really sucks to expose your body to all that stuff just to still end up with the same problem.
I’m so glad you can feel good about your skin! I was surprised to read your post, mostly because I thought Accutane was taken off the market. I used to work for a dermatologist and Accutane seriously saved a young patient’s life (she was severely depressed from her severe acne, which cleared up from this medication!).
I had the same problems with acne as you described. It hit until I turned 30. It occurred mostly on my cheeks and neck. It was embarrassing. I thought about meds from my dermatologist. I tried Retin-A on other topicals but they did nothing. I came across Lerosett online. The clay mask fixed EVERYTHING. I still use it nightly to maintain clear skin. I HIGHLY recommend the Lerosett mask to clear up cystic acne if you ever flare up again. 🙂
You are so fab!!
That is all xx
You are such an inspiration! I had goosebumps reading this and you are BEAUTIFUL!!!
Hi! Quick question: did you have to limit your intake of vitamin A foods while on accutane? Like sweet potatoes, squash etc. if yes, how did you fuel w/o those carbs?
Yes I tried to, but didn’t worry about it too much. I just limited my carbs and vitamin a foods and felt fine!
Thank you for sharing this post, for both the acne side and the depression side. I completely understand why you chose to go the pharmaceutical route. Cystic acne is super painful and it looked like your cheeks must have been killing you. You’re beautiful! I’m happy that you can pull your face up and feel confident in yourself!
Thank you for sharing, my son is currently on Accutan and heading into his fourth month. So far he is not showing any signs of depression, your story has reminded me to keep a close eye on him.
Our family is loving your recipes. My daughter has Down syndrome and has a lot of problems with digestion. Our change, however slow, to Paleo, has had great results. My first dabbles with Paleo, an old book,were more flops than hits So far all of your recipes have been great and there are requests for repeats.
Thanks for sharing your story. I always wanted to go on Accutaine but the Dr’s never thought my skin was bad enough. Last year I was dealing with terrible painful acne and in addition to going to a dermatologist I looked into home remedies and I found (and still use to this day) Apple Cider Vinegar keeps my skin pretty nice. For those who are interested, mix 4 parts water and 1 part cider vinegar and I rub it on my face 2x a day (morning and night). Not sure why, but it keeps my skin really nice. At night use it and will also wash my face, and in the morning I will do it before I shower/wash my face. I stopped going to the Dr’s and stopped taking the meds that were not working in the first place.
On an unrelated note, this is my favorite Paleo food blog.
You go Juli! Let the haters hate… you are beautiful and you have to do what you need and what works for you. I’m glad it did! What is your skin care regimen now?
PS, I use your recipes all the time. Don’t you ever ever EVER stop making recipes or my life will be over. K? Thanks 😉